641: Former Bain & Company Director Michael Farmer — Differences Between McKinsey, Bain and BCG, Strategy Consulting, Helping Ad Agencies and Their Clients Navigate Change  (Strategy Skills classics) episode artwork

EPISODE · Apr 2, 2026 · 1H 2M

641: Former Bain & Company Director Michael Farmer — Differences Between McKinsey, Bain and BCG, Strategy Consulting, Helping Ad Agencies and Their Clients Navigate Change (Strategy Skills classics)

from The Strategy Skills Podcast: Strategy | Leadership | Critical Thinking | Problem-Solving

In this episode, let's revisit a Strategy Skills classic interview with the author of Madison Avenue Makeover: The Transformation of Huge and the Redefinition of the Ad Agency Business, Michael Farmer. He also wrote the award-winning Madison Avenue Manslaughter, an inside view of fee-cutting clients, profit-hungry owners, and declining ad agencies (Third Edition, 2019). In this episode, Michael speaks about the time he worked for McKinsey, Bain, and BCG, and the differences between the three consulting firms. He also shared his advice for those aspiring to build their consulting firm and discussed the technique that helped him write his first book, Madison Avenue Manslaughter. Finally, Michael shared his experience of helping in the Transformation of a Creative Ad Agency (Huge). Michael Farmer is Chairman and CEO of Farmer & Company LLC, a strategy consulting firm for advertisers and agencies. He also serves as Professor of Branding and Integrated Communications at The City College of New York (CCNY). He has an MBA from Harvard Business School and was previously a Director of Bain & Company. Connect with Michael here: https://www.farmerandco.com/ Get Michael's book here: https://www.amazon.com/Madison-Avenue-Makeover-transformation-redefinition/dp/1911687646 Madison Avenue Makeover: The Transformation of Huge and the Redefinition of the Ad Agency Business. Michael Farmer. Enjoying this episode? Get access to sample advanced training episodes here: www.firmsconsulting.com/promo

Episode metadata supplied by the publisher feed · Published Apr 2, 2026

Embed this episode

NOW PLAYING

641: Former Bain & Company Director Michael Farmer — Differences Between McKinsey, Bain and BCG, Strategy Consulting, Helping Ad Agencies and Their Clients Navigate Change (Strategy Skills classics)

0:00 1:02:41

No transcript for this episode yet

We transcribe on demand. Request one and we'll notify you when it's ready — usually under 10 minutes.

No similar episodes found.

No similar podcasts found.

Frequently Asked Questions

How long is this episode of The Strategy Skills Podcast: Strategy | Leadership | Critical Thinking | Problem-Solving?

This episode is 1 hour and 2 minutes long.

When was this The Strategy Skills Podcast: Strategy | Leadership | Critical Thinking | Problem-Solving episode published?

This episode was published on April 2, 2026.

Can I download this The Strategy Skills Podcast: Strategy | Leadership | Critical Thinking | Problem-Solving episode?

Yes. Use the download control on the episode player to save the publisher-provided media file.
URL copied to clipboard!